Our Health Policy Matters

It is never easy to absorb unpleasant information. And when I was a policymaker, if someone told me that my decisions were going to cost innocent people their lives, then I usually chalked it up either to hyper-sensationalism or hyperbole.  After all, would passing a small increase in a business tax really force an employer to imperil workers by cutting corners on safety?  Would gun registration really leave a homeowner defenseless in the case of a break-in? Would cutting back welfare a few dollars actually result in a choice between eating or heating in the winter? In most instances, it was hard to see the direct connection. But the more I learned about health issues, the more I understood that there really were some decisions that were a matter of life and death.  These were the issues that taught me humility.  These were the issues that taught me that I needed to set aside my political ideology and embrace both theology and hard data whenever...

It is never easy to absorb unpleasant information. And when I was a policymaker, if someone told me that my decisions were going to cost innocent people their lives, then I usually chalked it up either to hyper-sensationalism or hyperbole.  After all, would passing a small increase in a business tax really force an employer to imperil workers by cutting corners on safety?  Would gun registration really leave a homeowner defenseless in the case of a break-in? Would cutting back welfare a few dollars actually result in a choice between eating or heating in the winter? In most instances, it was hard to see the direct connection. But the more I learned about health issues, the more I understood that there really were some decisions that were a matter of life and death.  These were the issues that taught me humility.  These were the issues that taught me that I needed to set aside my political ideology and embrace both theology and hard data whenever...

On August 7, 2012, Allen Daniel Hicks, Sr., died of a stroke.  The Hillsborough County FL resident was 51 years old.  At the time of his death, he was coaching Little Leaguers. It is a tragedy to lose someone so young to a stroke, but it is not uncommon.  And race matters with strokes. According to the Office of Minority Health at the Department of Health and Human Services , African Americans are 60 percent more likely to have a stroke than their white counterparts.  And African American men like Mr. Hicks are also 60 percent more likely to die from a stroke than are white men. But Allen Hicks’s death was especially tragic because the circumstances surrounding it eerily echo those surrounding the death of a young black woman named Anna Brown a year earlier and 1000 miles away. Both died from blood clots.  Mr. Hicks’ was in his brain; Ms. Brown’s was in her lungs.  Both died young and left children behind.  Both suffered from pain a...

On August 7, 2012, Allen Daniel Hicks, Sr., died of a stroke.  The Hillsborough County FL resident was 51 years old.  At the time of his death, he was coaching Little Leaguers. It is a tragedy to lose someone so young to a stroke, but it is not uncommon.  And race matters with strokes. According to the Office of Minority Health at the Department of Health and Human Services , African Americans are 60 percent more likely to have a stroke than their white counterparts.  And African American men like Mr. Hicks are also 60 percent more likely to die from a stroke than are white men. But Allen Hicks’s death was especially tragic because the circumstances surrounding it eerily echo those surrounding the death of a young black woman named Anna Brown a year earlier and 1000 miles away. Both died from blood clots.  Mr. Hicks’ was in his brain; Ms. Brown’s was in her lungs.  Both died young and left children behind.  Both suffered from pain a...

States’ Medicaid elephants are being dragged into the courts this year.  States had better be careful, or they just might get trampled under the weight of people they’ve failed to enroll. Last week, CT News Junkie reported the story of a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of almost 7,000 potential Medicaid recipients in Connecticut as of November 2011 whose applications were not processed within the 45 days mandated by federal law.   And Health News Florida, among others, reported that Florida’s Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a brief with the Supreme Court on behalf of twenty-six states (Connecticut is not one of them) alleging that Congress exceeds its authority when it “coerces states into accepting onerous conditions” of participation in the Medicaid program –even when it pays 90-100% of the costs of those provisions.  The two battles raise similar questions about how states avoid Medicaid costs today. The Supreme Court brief is supposed ...

States’ Medicaid elephants are being dragged into the courts this year.  States had better be careful, or they just might get trampled under the weight of people they’ve failed to enroll. Last week, CT News Junkie reported the story of a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of almost 7,000 potential Medicaid recipients in Connecticut as of November 2011 whose applications were not processed within the 45 days mandated by federal law.   And Health News Florida, among others, reported that Florida’s Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a brief with the Supreme Court on behalf of twenty-six states (Connecticut is not one of them) alleging that Congress exceeds its authority when it “coerces states into accepting onerous conditions” of participation in the Medicaid program –even when it pays 90-100% of the costs of those provisions.  The two battles raise similar questions about how states avoid Medicaid costs today. The Supreme Court brief is supposed ...

Want to get an email notice when new Our Health Policy Matters columns are posted?  Send an email to gionfriddopaul@gmail.com and I'll add you to the list. Treating the public policy arena like a casino is never a good idea. Florida is placing an $11 billion bet on Medicaid this year.   If the state loses, we’ll all be emptying our pockets for lower services. The bet involves moving all Medicaid recipients to managed care.   As reported in an article by Jim Saunders in Health News Florida last week, passage of this legislation this year is as close to a sure thing as there is in government. Florida hopes to save $1 billion the first year, and $2 billion by 2013 – nearly 10% of the total State Medicaid budget. There are three problems with this calculation. The first is that the projected savings from moving to managed care might be too high.   In a 2009 report prepared for America’s Health Insurance Plans , the Lewin Group found that savings in 24 different stat...

Want to get an email notice when new Our Health Policy Matters columns are posted?  Send an email to gionfriddopaul@gmail.com and I'll add you to the list. Treating the public policy arena like a casino is never a good idea. Florida is placing an $11 billion bet on Medicaid this year.   If the state loses, we’ll all be emptying our pockets for lower services. The bet involves moving all Medicaid recipients to managed care.   As reported in an article by Jim Saunders in Health News Florida last week, passage of this legislation this year is as close to a sure thing as there is in government. Florida hopes to save $1 billion the first year, and $2 billion by 2013 – nearly 10% of the total State Medicaid budget. There are three problems with this calculation. The first is that the projected savings from moving to managed care might be too high.   In a 2009 report prepared for America’s Health Insurance Plans , the Lewin Group found that savings in 24 different stat...

Isn’t it worth a few dollars to preserve essential mental health services?   It would appear that many state legislators would say no. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, states have cut a total of $1.6 billion for mental health services over the past three years. That was just the teaser.   This year, states around the country are making people with mental illness pay the price for tax cuts and deficits. NAMI state-by-state data show that the State of Florida spends no more for mental health services than it did in 2009.   But Health News Florida reports that the Florida Senate has proposed millions of dollars of cuts to mental health.   Next week, its Appropriations Committee will vote whether to cut $137 million from adult mental health services, 57% of the total outpatient budget.   Anyone who thinks these services aren’t essential should think again. On a single day this spring, in addition to offering its full array of group counseli...

Isn’t it worth a few dollars to preserve essential mental health services?   It would appear that many state legislators would say no. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, states have cut a total of $1.6 billion for mental health services over the past three years. That was just the teaser.   This year, states around the country are making people with mental illness pay the price for tax cuts and deficits. NAMI state-by-state data show that the State of Florida spends no more for mental health services than it did in 2009.   But Health News Florida reports that the Florida Senate has proposed millions of dollars of cuts to mental health.   Next week, its Appropriations Committee will vote whether to cut $137 million from adult mental health services, 57% of the total outpatient budget.   Anyone who thinks these services aren’t essential should think again. On a single day this spring, in addition to offering its full array of group counseli...